Use an independent business insurance broker for your restaurant insurance quote

In the United Kingdom there are over two hundred business and commercial insurance providers. These range from traditional insurers to Lloyds of London underwriters. Many of these offer some form of restaurant insurance. Using an independent business insurance broker can help you find the right insurer.

An insurance policy is a contract, between your business and your insurer. Most policies look the same. However, they may contain differences in cover, terms, conditions, warranties and excesses. We recommend that you use an independent business insurance broker to source your policy. A broker looks at the individual business insurance needs for you. They then seek the right product to meet these.

There are many websites that offer to compare business insurance. The problem is, they tend to focus on price. As with most products and services, cheapest is not always best. A broker may suggest a few options for you. They could recommend a cheaper quote. If this contains a higher excess, for example, the broker will point this out to you. If you use an insurance comparison site, it is down to you to review all of the restaurant insurance quote options. This can be a complex process.

Take an up to date view of your sums insured

A restaurant insurance policy can cover your buildings (if you own them), contents and stock. It is up to you to suggest the correct sums insured. These will represent the full replacement cost, in the current market.

If you purchased a pizza oven, this may have cost £7,500 five years ago. You need to use the current replacement cost for insurance purposes. It could be a similar machine is £11,000. You do not use the purchase cost or the second hand value.

It may be that certain items, such as computers are cheaper to replace. You should never consider insuring at figures deliberately low to save money. This is a false economy and could cost you more in the event of a claim

If the business building is leased, review what covers you need to take out

Most commercial property leases detail the insurance responsibilities. The landlord, or property owner, is usually responsible for the buildings. The tenant may be responsible for other items, such as fitted contents and plate glass. Most restaurants have significant glass frontage. If the landlord has a commercial property insurance policy, this may include glass cover. There is no reason for you to insure plate glass in windows (that you do not own), unless it is contractual requirement in the lease.

Monthly instalment options

Most restaurant insurance policies will allow the option of paying the annual premium in monthly instalments. This may be provided by the insurer or a third party premium finance provider. Usually, there is a credit charge applied. A reasonable rate, for a business insurance policy, is 5%. Many insurers offer interest free instalments. At the other end of the scale, you could pay a credit charge of 10-12%. Simply choosing an insurer that offers interest free payments could save you one tenth of your annual premium.

Don’t automatically go for the cheapest restaurant insurance quote

We’ve mentioned this briefly, earlier on, but it is worth stressing again. Everyone loves a bargain and it can be tempting to save money on your business insurance. However, it is not always the case that cheapest is best. If you have a claim, this is when you want full support from your insurer and your policy. This is not the time to find out that the insurers claims department is very slow to act or that you have an above average excess. You also don’t want to find out that your cheap policy excluded cover that was in a slightly more expensive policy.

Please take the time to obtain a few quotes and review them. You’ll then need to incept the one that is most suited to your business. You may be happier with a larger excess, if you save 10% of the premium. This is a business decision that only you can make.